


What Could have Been

by ColbyPuppy



Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, M/M, Therion is a vampire, no happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 15:33:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17869919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColbyPuppy/pseuds/ColbyPuppy
Summary: An alternate ending to chapter 10 of Bloodbound in which the binding spell doesn't break.





	What Could have Been

**Author's Note:**

> I cried writing this.
> 
> Brace yourselves.

It was something out of his worse nightmares.

  
Therion laid on the cold cobblestone floor of the necromancer's lab. The binding ritual had taken away all control of his body. He couldn't move, he couldn't even blink or look around. His captor had slit his throat, drained his blood to use in some other ritual. (The voice was snarling, clawing at his mind. He needed blood. The room stank of it, which only teased the craving further.) He was cold, used,

  
alone.

  
He heard hurried footsteps approaching, it didn't sound like the pattern of the necromancer's steps, but who else would be down here? He couldn't look as they entered the room. Whoever it was paused for but a second before running in his direction. (He heard their heartbeat spike).

  
"No. No no no _gods no_ -" He recognized that voice. Alfyn. He...he found him after all. But it was too late for him. Therion was lost, nothing more than a puppet at the mercy of a crazy necromancer. He heard Alfyn collapse next to him.

  
There was another set of footsteps, slower. "I am going to look around, see if I can figure out what has been going on down here. I- I am sorry." That voice was unmistakably Cyrus.

  
Cyrus walked away and a sob issued from Alfyn. They shouldn't be down here, it was only a matter of time before the necromancer came back and neither of them were on their guard! He didn't want to imagine what that psycho might do to them. Therion wanted to warn them, to tell them to forget about him and just get out of there, but there was nothing he could do. He might as well be a corpse.

  
Alfyn carefully gathered him in his arms before pulling him into a desperate hug. Therion felt warm tears land on the back of his neck, felt Alfyn shudder as he took in ragged, sobbing breaths. His pulse was all around him, pounding against his skin, it was driving the craving crazy. It needed blood so bad, a source was so close- _SO CLOSE_. But the binding spell held fast, the craving couldn't take control any more that Therion could.

  
"Oh gods, Therion, I- I'm so sorry." Alfyn's voice was subdued, broken up by heavy sobs. It was the voice of a broken man. "I'm so, so sorry. You didn't deserve this. You didn't- gods I shoulda gone with ya to the inn. Maybe, maybe then..." he trailed off, breaking down as he tried to take in ragged, sniffly breaths, each one coming back out as another sob.

  
Therion didn't blame him. It wasn't anyone's fault, it was just his luck really. As though it was destined for him to be used up and thrown away, again and again.

  
Alfyn's voice dropped to barely a whisper. "Never, never got the chance to tell ya... how much I really liked travelin' with ya. Thought we were, startin' to have a good thing goin' there. That...that maybe..." he choked out another sob "guess, guess it just... wasn't meant to be, hu?" What was Alfyn saying? Why did he care, why would anyone actually care? Therion wasn't someone worth caring about. Yet, here they were, Alfyn completely devastated because he looked like he was dead.

  
He hated it, it would have been better if they never found him.

  
There was the rattling of bones and Alfyn was suddenly yanked away, sending Therion crashing back to the unforgiving stone floor. He heard Alfyn swear as he stumbled back, his arms held back by a skeletal sentry.

  
The necromancer had returned.

  
"Well well, what do we have here?" Gods, that voice made his skin crawl. "Was the day-walking vampire yours? Sorry- it proved too valuable for my work to pass up."

  
"Wh-what the hell are you talking about? What did you do to him, you bastard!" Alfyn sounded absolutely furious, it was a new side of him Therion had never seen before.

  
He wasn't the only one, Cyrus tried to keep his voice level but as he spoke his rage crept in more and more. At first the necromancer seemed willing to work with the scholar, but his attitude shifted at Cyrus' refusal.

  
There was the horrible sound of the necromancer unsheathing his dagger. "A shame. I would have liked to have picked your brain, but I guess I'll settle for sucking your blood instead. At least you have good timing, the vampire needs feeding."

  
_No. Oh no._

  
The order resonated down to Therion's core. " **Get up. The blonde man is your meal. Feed.** "

  
Therion lurched to his feet like a marionette on strings, his arms and head hanging limply from his form. We wobbled, getting steady on his feet, before his head snapped up. His eyes locked on to Alfyn and he saw the look on his friend's face morph from confusion and anger to one of fear and disbelief.

  
( _No. No, please, don't make me do this._ )

  
"Th-Therion?" Alfyn's voice was small, wavering, his heart was pounding. It called to him. Beaconed him closer.

  
He tried, desperately, to hold himself back. To fight against the order. But it was no use, it took but a moment for the force of the spell and his craving to overpower the scraps of his humanity. He sprinted forward, teeth bared, quickly closing the distance between himself and Alfyn.

  
He saw, clearly, the terror in Alfyn's earthy brown eyes. He wasn't even fighting against the hold of the skeletal sentry anymore, frozen in fear.

  
( _No. **No!** Stop this, somebody stop this please he didn't want to-_)

  
Cold enveloped his arms and legs and he came to a sudden stop, mere inches from where Alfyn stood. The command and craving struggled against the hold of the ice that crept over his arms to his shoulders and his legs up to his hips. Therion heard himself snarl, he sounded beastly. Inhuman.

  
Tears welled up in his open, empty eyes, streaming down his face as they overflowed. Part of it was relief, that Cyrus had acted quickly enough to stop him. At the same time it sunk in that this, this was the end. How could they ever see him as anything but a monster now?

  
It's what he got for getting attached. Sentimental fool. The world had tried to teach him this lesson time and again, he was a fool not to stick to it.

  
Alfyn studied his face, eyes shimmering, and he thought he might start crying again. Instead Alfyn shifted where he was looking, expression hardening. He squirmed until he could grab the arm of the skeletal sentry over his shoulder. "I don't know what the hell you've been doing, but, you aren't getting away with this!" He yanked at the skeletal arm, sending the sentry flying over his shoulder and sailing through the air.

  
There was a clattering impact somewhere behind him, accompanied by a sputtering of curses from the necromancer. Alfyn hefted his ax and rushed into the fight, out of his line of sight. He heard the battle rage, metal clashing with metal while the colliding of spells charged the stagnant air with energy. The smell of the magic burned at his nostrils and lungs.

  
It all ended with the wet thunk of an ax meeting flesh. A body dropping heavily to the floor. It was over. The necromancer was dead. Therion was breathing heavily, tired from fighting against the ice. He felt so cold.

  
He still couldn't look around, couldn't blink. He heard footsteps circling back around him, and he couldn't keep himself from trying to lurch forward when Alfyn came back into view. Therion was snarling like a caged animal. He needed blood- the order of the binding spell was still so strong. _The blonde man was his meal_. But he couldn't reach, _couldn't reach!_

  
A fresh wave of tears spilled down his face. This, this was the end. He really was nothing but a monster now. He was trapped at the back of his mind watching events unfold.

  
Alfyn was searching his face again. He reached up tentatively, "Therion? Is that-" He gasped, yanking his hand back as Therion snapped at his fingers.

  
He growled. The craving hated being teased.

  
Tears fell from Alfyn's eyes and he tried to bite back a sob. He brought up an arm to wipe of his face and broke down. He had looked ever so slightly hopeful, but that had broken it.

  
He heard a book snap close somewhere behind him and Cyrus appeared. He looked at Therion then put a comforting hand on Alfyn's shoulder.

  
"H-he's _gone_. He, he's actually gone." He took in a shaky breath and lowered his arm, he wouldn't look Therion in the eye anymore. "He's gone and that bastard turned his body into-" He paused, choking on a sob.

  
"...what do you wish to do? You were closest to him- I feel you may have the best idea as to what Therion would want."

  
"We. We can't leave him like this..." He looked back up at Therion, meeting his eyes. Therion heard himself hiss. Alfyn tightened the grip he had on his ax, hand shaking.

  
"I- I'm so sorry. I'll make sure you have a good funeral, buddy."

  
Alfyn lifted his ax.

  
Therion saw him look away as he swung down. Felt the impact of metal crunching into his chest. It hurt, for just a moment.

 

A makeshift grave sat at the edge of Quarrycrest, surrounded by wildflowers. Alfyn sat before it, knees hugged to his chest. He took in a deep, shaky breath, then let it out.

  
"...hey. It's, been quite a day. I- I'm gonna really miss travelin' with ya. Prickly as ya acted, you had your own ways t' show how much you cared about us... you were a good guy, Theri, whether you thought so or not." He sniffled, rubbing his eyes. "Had a lot of fun goofin' around with ya on the road. And, oh man, still remember that time you got drunk in Rippletide. You wouldn't let me go, snuggled up to me and wouldn't let me sleep in my own bed. ...never got the chance to tell ya, but, I really enjoyed your company. Thought that, maybe, it coulda been love..."

  
Alfyn pulled himself to his feet. "...don't think I'm cut out for this, for travelin'. What good am I if I...if I can't even protect those I care about?" He turned to go. "I...guess this is it then. Goodbye, Therion. I'll see ya on the other side, you hear?"


End file.
